


That Which Is Left Behind

by winterda



Series: Left Behind [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Crack and Angst, F/M, Female Tony Stark, I'm Sorry, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pregnancy, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 15:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16370330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterda/pseuds/winterda
Summary: Toni always knew how to make an impression.  One would think that with all of her outrageous behavior from her youth and coming out as a superhero that she wouldn't be able to shock people anymore, but Toni really did have a knack for it.  It was a Stark trait after all.





	That Which Is Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> I know. I've got other things that I should be working on. I still am. It's just I made the mistake of reading a Female Tony Stark story because I was bored, and this became stuck in my head. So this was just a little something silly. It's not going to be long, though, but I might do a few more stories in this universe. Depends on how it goes. Again, I'm sorry.

Toni Stark knew how to make an impression. It started on the day she born when she came out with ten fingers, ten toes, and without one very important appendage that Howard Stark was most hoping to see. The story went that when the doctors handed her over to him that Howard had held her awkwardly and wondered what he was to do with this dark-haired, round-face _girl_. Toni, apparently, responded by peeing all over him. Howard never held her after that, but Toni liked to think that he respected her a bit more.

She spent pretty much the rest of her life making sure people knew who she was and that someone couldn't just push her around because of the sex she was born. For the most part, people knew better now. And if they hadn't learned by the time she was heading Stark Industries and earned the lovely nickname of Angel of Death, than they certainly learned when she became Iron Man (and if they didn't want that name for her any longer, well they shouldn't have assumed the gender of the person flying the suit the first time it appeared). 

Toni still enjoyed making an impression, though. One would think that with all of her outrageous behavior from her youth and coming out as a superhero that she wouldn't be able to shock people as much, but Toni really did have a knack for it. It was a Stark trait after all.

One of the few good traits that Howard had passed on to her.

The thought caused a pang of sadness and worry in her chest, but Toni pushed it away. 

“Hey, kid,” she said instead with a grin, “my face is up here.”

Toni nearly laughed as Peter flinched in that over-dramaic way that teenagers only seemed to accomplish before lifting his head to look her straight in the eyes. “Huh – No, I wasn't – I mean – Huh?”

She had to press her lips at his utter floundering, but it didn't stop the full smile that spread across her lips. Which, of course, just made his whole face and neck turn red. God, this kid was adorable.

“I'm – I'm sorry, Ms. Stark,” Peter said as he tried to duck his head. “I didn't mean to.”

“It's fine, Junior League,” she replied. “You should have seen Happy the first time I wore a miniskirt around him.”

“Oh, no,” Happy pipped from behind them. “Don't drag me into this.”

Toni grinned back him, but Happy just ignored her. They'd known each other for too long for her to shock him in any sort of way. Hell, his whole reaction to this whole thing was just a eye roll and mutter about how she was determined to make his life that much harder. That wasn't really Toni's goal, but aggravating him was kind of a happy bonus. 

“It's not,” Peter started and then pressed his lips. “It's not...really the same thing, Ms. Stark.”

Toni figured that it really wasn't, but to be fair she still wasn't use to this whole thing herself. After all, it wasn't too long ago she was the teenage fantasy that nerdy boys like Peter dreamed about: the tech genius billionaire who also happened to be a superhero and gorgeous. It was different now, though, especially with Peter. If he ever did have a crush on her, he was long over it, which Toni was glad about because that probably would have made things pretty awkward.

Instead of conceding Peter's point, she walked over to him and put an arm around his shoulder. It was a little awkward at first considering that they were approximately the same height, but Peter easily fell into step with her as she explained why she had called him up to the Compound. The kid really had done her a solid. Saving that plane had probably saved a bunch of peoples lives since that kind of tech really didn't need to get out. Toni shuttered to think of what could have happened if Toomes and his men had gotten their hands on that tech. The only saving grace would have been that it wouldn't have been everything from the Tower. Really, she could kiss Pepper for talking her out of selling the damn thing and just being done with it.

Peter had saved them, though. Even after she had taken his suit away, he had still managed to stop Toomes. Sure, the plane went down, but no one was seriously injured. Toni would have much preferred for the whole damn thing to be destroyed than for her tech to fall into the wrong hands again. 

So it was only fair to offer a kid a spot on the team. A severely limited spot. A spot that would let her keep an eye on him and give him training, but that he didn't necessarily go out with the big kids just yet. One that would be more like a real internship than an actual job. She'd explain all of this to him in a minute, but it would only be until he finished high school – maybe college. 

Or she would have if the kid didn't shock her by turning her down. 

Well, that was...unexpected.

“You're good?” Toni repeated. 

“Yeah, Ms. Stark,” Peter said with a small smile. “I'm good.”

“You're sure?” she asked. “There are a lot of people in the other room waiting to meet Spider-Man.”

Nodding, he said, “I know, but it's like you said, maybe should just, you know, stay close to the ground for awhile. Be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Someone's got to look out for the little guy.”

Huh. Guess the kid actually did listen to her sometimes. 

Sure didn't feel like it there for awhile.

Shifting on his feet a little, Peter said, “I'll be glad to help out, still. You know, when – _if_ – if you, um, need me to. And I won't say anything. I promise.”

He was very pointedly looking her in the eyes when he said that, which, yeah, real subtle kid. They were going to have to work on that.

“Yeah, I know, kid,” Toni said. “I'll, um, I'll have Happy drive you home.”

“Yeah,” Happy said before turning directly to Peter. “You mind waiting for me in the car? I need a minute.”

Peter nodded and then smiled. “Thank you, Ms. Stark.”

Toni barely had time to return it before Peter was already jogging away in the direction that they had come from. Pressing her lips, Toni turned to close to the case with the Iron Spider suit when she heard Peter call out.

“That was all a test,” he said. “Right? There's no one behind those doors.”

It took Toni exactly 0.2 seconds to decide that just going with that was probably the best option. “Yes. And you, um, passed.”

Peter flashed her a brilliant smile and then continued to jog away. When he had turned the corner that would take him to the elevator, Happy turned to her and said, “I told you he was a good kid.”

Toni could only smile in response. She had kind of figured that out herself.

Before what had happened really began to sink in, Toni heard the door behind her open. There was a loud mummer of reporters chatting loudly echoing from inside, as well as a few flashes of cameras. There wasn't anyone out there yet except for Pepper, who had been stalling for the past few minutes while Toni talked to Peter, so Toni figured that they were trying to catch a picture from over Pepper's shoulder of what was waiting in the hall. Thankfully, Toni was standing at too sharp of an angle for them to have caught her in any of them, and Pepper was already shutting the door before Toni had a chance to move.

“Where's the kid?” she asked. “Everybody is waiting.”

“He left,” Happy told her.

“You know, he just made a really mature decision,” Toni explained quickly. “He just surprised the dickens out of us.”

She frowned at them in that mom-way of hers that always made Toni feel like she was six-years-old again and that her mother had caught her being rude to one of those snobby women that Maria had lunch with on most days. Toni loved Pepper to death, but she really was kind of the epitome of the Mom Friend. She'd be really good at the whole “mom” thing, really. A lot better than Toni could dream to be.

“What did you two do?” she asked.

Again, that urge to shift blame was a little too strong, so Toni said, “Happy told him to wait in the car.”

Happy sputtered like a missfiring engine as he tried to think of some excuse because he actually couldn't contradict that. He had told Peter to wait in the car. However, Pepper obviously wasn't fooled by anything and turned to Toni.

“What am I suppose to do?” she ask her. “I have a room full of people waiting for a big announcement. What am I suppose to tell them?”

Toni pressed her lips and shifted her weight as a thought she had been considering all day came back to her again. Ever since she decided to introduce the world to Spider-Man, she had been considering doing this before talking herself out of it again. She argued with herself all of the night before about whether this was a good idea but couldn't ever decide on it one way or the other. 

No, that was a lie. She had been arguing about this with herself – and the others – for months now. It was just that now things had changed, and it would only be a matter of time before everything came out. So the real question was did she want to take control of the situation or let it be taken from her.

“Well,” Toni said, “there is one thing we could tell them.”

*

_“Steve?”_

__

__

_The pencil in his hand stopped halfway through the drawing, and he forgot what it was he was drawing as soon as he lifted his eyes from the page. The tastefully decorated bedroom was filled with afternoon light, which made everything there glow. The pale curtains, the cream sheets, the white roses – they were so bright that he had to squint if he looked at them for too long. It didn't hurt, though. He was fine, comfortable even, in his overly stuffed chair with the early spring breeze flowing in from the window and brushing against his hair and cheeks. Everything was in place and there was nothing amiss that he could see._

__

__

_So why did it feel off?_

__

__

_“Are you alright?”_

__

__

_Peggy frowned at him from her usual place in her bed. The bed was raised, and her dark hair fell slightly to the side as she tilted her head. It reminded him of the rainy day after his last USO performance ever: when she found him drawing that performing monkey – was that he what he had been drawing a minute ago? – and he learned about the 107th. For a second, the world seemed to turn darker and gray and Steve would swear that the chill of rain rushed through him, but he blinked and the world was bright again and he quickly forgot the thought._

__

__

_“I'm fine,” he said with a smile that he knew didn't reach his eyes. “I'm with my best girl.”_

__

__

_Peggy gave a soft laugh of disbelief and shook her head. She was young and old all at once it seemed: beautiful in her youth and elegant in her maturity, and somehow existing in a state of both. Steve didn't think to wonder on how it was possible. It seemed as natural as anything when she turned her face from his and it became old and wrinkled; then changed back to the firm smoothness that it had glowed during the war._

__

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_“I think you can hardly call me that any more,” she said firmly but not unkindly._

__

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_It was his turn to frown now. “What do you mean?”_

__

__

_“You know what I mean, Captain Rogers,” she said. “It's alright. I told you before, I was happy for you.”_

__

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_“What are you talking about, Peggy?”_

__

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_She smiled again and slipped her hand into his. He imagined that it felt like paper, delicate and soft and ready to rip should he handle it too roughly, so he was careful to keep his grip slack. Peggy didn't seem to mind, even though he knew she was gripping his hand tight. He couldn't really feel it though._

__

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_“Just do what I asked,” she told him as her eyes wrinkled and her hair washed in white gray that Steve knew it wouldn't change back from this time. “You promised you would.”_

__

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_Shame filled his gut and caused him to avoid her eyes. “I screwed up. God, I've already screwed up so much.”_

__

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_Her hand gripped his tighter, but Steve still couldn't feel anything._

__

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_“Then you need to let go.”_

__

__

_His stomach turned to lead and fell to somewhere below his feet. Somewhere far below the frozen ground and into a shadowy bunker that he didn't want to know, but did. Somewhere where crashing metal echoed off concrete walls and hallow cries screamed from the darkness._

__

__

_“You always find the worst places, you know that?”_

__

__

_The food package was shoved into his hands roughly, a not-so-subtle reminded that, even if he wasn't hungry, he needed to eat. Sighing, Steve frowned up at Bucky, who was shoving a bit of his own food into his mouth. He raised an eyebrow down at him and nodded a chin towards his still untouched meal, making Steve feel like he was eighteen again, newly on his own, with Bucky's mother constantly sending him over with what little bit of extra food they always managed to have. Steve always felt guilty taking it. Sure, the economy was getting better, but a family that already had six mouths to feed really didn't need another. He never turned down, though. They were all the family he had left._

__

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_“What are you talking about?” Steve asked as he picked at the food. “Best place in the village.”_

__

__

_Bucky snorted and corrected, “Only place in the village.”_

__

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_The remains of smoke and ash still clung to pew and flew into the air when Bucky flopped down next to him. Most of the church had been burnt out from some battle or massacre long before they had arrived, but it still sadden Steve see it in such a state. He might not have seen the inside of one in years, but the choir boy in him still cringed at the sad sight of the alter. Still, it had a roof – somewhat – and a dry place to hold up for a few hours before they decided which Hydra base should be next on their list._

__

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_“So, what are you going to do?” Bucky asked._

__

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_Steve shrugged. “Don't know. Move forward like always, I guess.”_

__

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_“Think you can? Even after what you did?”_

__

__

_Metal hitting metal echoed loudly through the silent church as Steve threw his fork onto the plate. “I did what I had to do. You know that.”_

__

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_Shrugging his metal shoulder, Bucky said, “Maybe. It was your choice.”_

__

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_“What choice?” Steve snapped back. “Was I just supposed to sit there and watch you get killed?”_

__

__

_Bucky's eyes seemed black as his long dark hair fell across his face. He was dirtier than Steve could ever remember him being, but there was something else there too. A frightening emptiness that worried Steve. Bucky's metal hand suddenly gripped onto Steve's wrist with more force than Steve had ever felt._

__

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_In a flat, dead voice, he said, “Maybe.”_

__

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_The world exploded. There was a heavy push of air and a cracking sound, and then Bucky was falling. Falling away from him and into an icy ravine and forever reaching out for Steve to help him._

__

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_There was a whirling sound of a repulsor charging, which sent him moving before he realized it. The Iron Man suit was battered – he and Bucky had done that – and there were a few pieces missing, but it wasn't stopping. She wasn't stopping. She had to stop. This was...this was wrong. He couldn't let her –_

__

__

_He just wanted her to stop._

__

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_The suit was pinned beneath him, and maybe that made this all easier. He could stop a suit of iron. They'd trained together like this before, and he'd taken on her drones many times._

__

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_But then it changed, and it wasn't Iron Man caught under him. She was staring up at him. Her face was bloody – he did that – her eyes were wide and terrified and defiant all at the same time. Her dark hair was fan out and there was a tremble that he could ignore as she brought her bare arms up to protect her face._

__

__

_The shield he hadn't even known was in his hands then came racing down towards her unprotected chest._

\- 

Steve woke with a small gasp. His heart was racing in his chest as he his brain tried to remember how the he had gotten out the concrete bunker and ended up in a small room with a water stained walls. It took less than a second for everything to catch up, but that didn't make anything really any better. Not with how much of that dream had actually happened.

Letting his feet drop off the side of the small bed, Steve learned forward in the stiff chair and placed his face in his hands. A twenty-four hour news station was rambling off something in a language that Steve didn't really know, but it had been turned down so low that it didn't really matter. Aside from a thin line of light that outlined one side of the curtains, it was provided most of the light for the too small room, which cast flickering white light against the walls. A chill had seeped in sometime during his impromptu nap, which meant the radiator was probably on fritz just like the girl at the desk warned them might happen. They could call about it, and the water which came out brown, but they'd just tough it out. There was no need to draw attention to them, especially since they'd be leaving by that night anyway. Besides, it wasn't the worst place he had ever stayed. It certainly wasn't the best either, though.

Sam let out a little snore from one of the small beds before settling back down into his deep breathing. Wanda didn't make any sound from the other bed, but rolled over and wrapped the blanket more tightly around herself. Neither of them seemed particularly bothered by anything: the cold nor any nightmares. 

Good for them.

“Morning.”

Nat smiled with one side of her mouth from the corner of the little sitting area, which put her on the other side of the table from him. Her hands were wrapped around a steaming cup of coffee that smelled rather heavenly right now to him. The smile sharpened for a moment before she pulled a cup out of a holder with three others, and then tossed a small brown bag at him. It was burned his tongue and was too strong for his taste, but Steve drank it without comment before pulling a pastry that he didn't really recognize out the bag.

“You should have woke me before you left,” he said before biting into the sugary bread.

Nat raised an eyebrow. “When a hundred year old man falls asleep watching twenty-four hour news, you should just let them sleep.”

Steve snorted a small laugh because, yeah, he suppose it was kind of cliché of him. “Ninety-eight,” he corrected. “And you still should have woke one of us.”

Nat made a face and tilted her head a bit to the side, which was kind of her way of agreeing without actually doing so, before going back to sip on her coffee. For a few minutes, the only sound that could be heard was the low drone of news anchors voice and the occasion snore from Sam as Steve ate his breakfast and Nat watched him do it. There was nothing unusual about this. 

Over the past few months, all of this had rather become the normal for all of them: rundown hotel rooms and bad coffee and television and radio shows that most of them couldn't understand, this was their life now. It was hard and by far wasn't fun, but it was nothing new to Steve. He'd spent so much time at war that this almost felt more real to him than anything. Living in one place with people that were like a family, eating what and how much you wanted without having to worry with rations, sleeping in a nice bed with a girl you – well, that was the fantasy. Running, hiding, helping people – that was reality. Steve had only just forgotten for awhile.

Maybe he should have made Sam and Wanda and Nat take up T'Challa on his offer, though. They've been in war, but not like him. This, this whole lifestyle, it was hard on them, especially Wanda. It wasn't fair that they should have to live it just because they thought he was right. They should be back home at the Compound helping to teach Vision about the world around him, having a beer with Rhodey and laughing about his latest mission, making sure Toni came out of her lab and had a proper meal and slept at least once every few days because once she set her mind to something she lost track of little things like that. FRIDAY was suppose to tell them when she'd gone over so many hours. He really hoped that she was still updating Rhodey and Vision when she did. She needed someone to remind her she's still human sometimes.

Steve forced him to stop that line of thought. That...that wasn't for him to worry about anymore. 

It didn't stop him from doing so from time to time.

“You're doing it again,” Nat said.

“What?” he asked.

She shrugged a shoulder. “Thinking too hard about stuff you can't change.”

Something snide made him think of her ledger, but Steve didn't say anything to that. That wasn't a fight this early in the morning. And, besides, it wasn't like Nat was really wrong.

“Sorry,” he said as he leaned back in his chair. “Old fossil like me? You know my mind's stuck on –”

“Toni Stark,” the pretty news anchor said before she continued to ramble on in her native language. A stock photo of the Compound appeared in the top corner as she continued to talk before it was replaced with what looked to be live footage from a conference room. The Avengers symbol was on the podium placed at the front, where Pepper was trying field questions that the station was airing.

“What is it?” he asked. “What's going on?”

“Apparently Toni's got some kind of announcement.”

Steve frowned. For the past few months, Toni had done a pretty good job of staying out of the spotlight. Iron Man was still active: they'd all seen the footage from a few days ago when she saved that ferry in the bay. Toni herself, though, had been staying scarce. 

That hadn't been true the first few months after everything had happened. It seemed like every time Steve turned on a television there was another story about her exploits: her work with the UN on the Accords, the latest tech to come out of SI, the Avengers helping people. It felt like she was everywhere he looked. And everywhere her personal life was mentioned, so was her latest date. There wasn't anything about that the first two months after Siberia, but then it was like she went on a dating spree. Every charity event, award ceremony, or night out on the town – things she'd normally take himself or Rhodey too – there were pictures of her with a new man on her arm. Hollywood types and athletes and business men – they'd all been seen with her at some event or another. Even the people in the entertainment news had started to joke about how she was acting like a recent divorcee who was getting back in the saddle. Steve hadn't appreciated it. Neither had the others who had to deal with his funk for the next week or so. 

Steve tried to stay out of it. Really, he had. Whatever Toni was up to wasn't any of his business anymore. Steve had nearly snapped when Sam asked him how long it took convince himself of that.

Then, just as suddenly as it all started, it stopped. No one really noticed at first because Toni holding herself up in the Compound for awhile wasn't anything new. But then a few months went by and no one had seen her. Not Toni Stark, anyway. She wasn't going out any more, not to parties or charity events or anything like that. There hadn't even been any announcements from SI that Pepper hadn't fielded for awhile. Rhodey at some point had become the unofficial spokesperson for the Avengers press conferences and the work with the UN. It was like Toni had just...disappeared. 

Now here she was again about to make some kind of announcement.

As the news station switched to a livefeed and Pepper began to talk, several things raced through Steve's mind as to what this could be. It must have something to do with the Avengers. If it was something with SI, it would have been from Stark Tower or from their LA branch. The Accords maybe? Was Thor back? Or Bruce?

He glanced back at Nat, who was watching just as closely as he was. Maybe they should wake up Sam and Wanda. This might affect them too.

Then Pepper, ever unflappable Pepper, paused to clear her throat and shifted uneasily on her feet. That...that wasn't a good sign.

Had something happened? Was someone hurt? Rhodey? Vision?

Toni?

Pepper smiled to cover her flub and then said, “Please, hold all your questions until after she's finished with her prepared statement.”

If Steve wasn't on the edge of his sat, he would have laughed at that. Toni was more of a wing it kind of girl when it came to these press conferences. He highly doubted that she had any kind statement ready besides the one that Pepper had prepared for her that Toni most likely threw away the second it was passed into her hands. She'd stay with one if she had too, but mostly she just used them as a base outline and just talked. 

Howard had been like that too.

Steve pushed away the guilt as the thought of his old friend when the door to conference room was pushed opened by Happy. For a moment, he was the only thing anyone could see as he scanned the room for threats. Then he stepped out of the way to let Toni in.

The room exploded almost as soon as she walked. Reporters were on their feet. Cameras were flashing. Questions were being asked over one another so that none could be understood.

“Steve?” he heard Nat ask, but he couldn't take his eyes off Toni as she climbed up onto the platform.

She smiled at the reporters before her as she stopped next to the podium and placed a hand on her hip. The other one ran over the top of her bulging belly, pushing the loose fabric that hung over her stomach back so that there was no mistaken what you were seeing. 

Her grin never waved as she leaned over to the microphones and said, “So, yeah, guess who got knocked up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so let me know what you guys think.


End file.
